better farming series

FAO Economic and Social Development Series

No. 3/18

Bananas

Published by arrangement with the Institut africain pour le développement économique et social
B.P. 8008, Abidjan, Côte d'lvoire

Reprinted 1984, 1992

P-69
ISBN 92-5-100149-9

BETTER FARMING SERIES

The titles published in this series are designed as hand-books for intermediate-level agricultural education and training courses. They may be purchased as a set or individually.

The plant: the living plant; the root
The plant: the stem; the buds; the leaves
The plant: the flower
The soil: how the soil is made up
The soil: how to conserve the soil
The soil: how to improve the soil
Crop farming
Animal husbandry: feeding and care of animals
Animal husbandry: animal diseases; how animals reproduce
The farm business survey
Cattle breeding
Sheep and goat breeding
Keeping chickens
Farming with animal power
Cereals
Roots and tubers
Groundnuts
Bananas
Market gardening
Upland rice
Wet paddy or swamp rice
Cocoa
Coffee
The oil palm
The rubber tree
The modern farm business
Freshwater fish farming: how to begin
Water: where water comes from
Better freshwater fish farming: the pond
Better freshwater fish farming: the fish
Biogas: what it is; how it is made; how to use it
Biogas 2: building a better biogas unit
Farming snails 1: learning about snails; building a pen; food and shelter plants
Farming snails 2: choosing snails; care and harvesting; further improvement
Better freshwater fish farming: further improvement
Raising rabbits 1: learning about rabbits; building the pens; choosing rabbits
Raising rabbits 2: feeding rabbits; raising baby rabbits; further improvement
Better freshwater fish farming: raising fish in pens and cages

PREFACE

The first twenty-six volumes in FAO's Better Farming Series were based on the Cours d'apprentissage agricole prepared in the Ivory Coast by the Institut africain de développement économique et social for use by extension workers. Later volumes, beginning with No. 27, have been prepared by FAO for use in agricultural development at the farm and family level. The approach has deliberately been a general one, the intention being to constitute basic prototype outlines to be modified or expanded in each area according to local conditions of agriculture.

Many of the booklets deal with specific crops and techniques, while others are intended to give the farmer more general information which can help him to understand why he does what he does, so that he will be able to do it better.

Adaptations of the series, or of individual volumes in it, have been published in Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Creole, Hindi, Igala, Indonesian, Kiswahili, Malagasy, SiSwati and Turkish, an indication of the success and usefulness of this series.

Requests for permission to issue this manual in other languages and to adapt it according to local climatic and ecological conditions are welcomed. They should be addressed to the Director, Publications Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome 1977
© French edition, Institut africain pour
le développment économique et social (INADES) 1971
© English edition, FAO 1977

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This electronic document has been scanned using optical character recognition (OCR) software. FAO declines all responsibility for any discrepancies that may exist between the present document and its original printed version.